


Cliffside

by TheonSugden



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Minor Injuries, Suicidal Thoughts, Tumblr Prompts, attempted suicide, heights, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 20:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3501794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheonSugden/pseuds/TheonSugden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Per tumblr prompt - what if Andy had accidentally hit Aaron with his car that night on the cliff?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cliffside

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - Possible prompt for you: At the quarry edge, while Aaron's in front of the truck and Robert's inside, Andy's foot slips off the brake while he's revving the engine

_I’m not sure how far you wanted this to go, but I assume you didn’t want me to kill them, so I didn’t. I hope this is OK._

It was all still a blur to Robert. 

It had happened so fast…all while in slow motion. 

He could see everything in his mind - Aaron jumping in front of the truck, Andy panicking and taking his foot off the brake, Aaron falling, his own foot slamming on top of Andy’s, screeching the car to a halt.

The freezing night air was barely enough to wake him from his haze as he pocketed the keys and scrambled out of the car, straining to fight through the crazy adrenaline of what had just happened.

"Aaron! Aaron! Talk to me!"

He crawled on the ground like a dog, afraid any fast movement would knock one or both of them off the edge. 

They were so close…so close one wrong move would take them over. 

He ran his fingers over a groggy Aaron’s face, sickened by the abyss hanging over them. 

He tried not to take this as a metaphor for where their lives had gone. 

"S’fine…help Andy…" Aaron slurred, trying to sit up.

Robert wasn’t sure if he should move Aaron, but Aaron made the decision for him, standing up to stagger against the front of the truck, clinging for dear life onto the very thing that had nearly ended his life. 

Andy, weeping, flung himself out of the car.

"I’m so sorry, Aaron. I never meant…I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry…"

He pulled Aaron into a bear hug, Aaron allowing himself to rest his head on Andy’s chest. 

The sound of muffled sobs made Robert’s own eyes fill and blur.

Robert stepped back for a moment, thinking about how much both men meant to him, and, in spite of knowing that, or perhaps because of it, how much he’d hurt them.

Before he could stop himself, he joined their hug, holding them close, kissing Andy’s forehead, and - as Andy wept into his shoulder - he pressed his lips to Aaron’s forehead.

The dead look in Aaron’s eyes would haunt him for many nights to come. 

"I’ll drive us back to t-the vill…" he tried to push through his teeth, chattering from the cold and from pure terror. 

"No. I’m gonna walk," Andy insisted, tears streaming down his face, making it into a roadmap.

Aaron stood on one side of him, Robert the other, in case of…something, anything.

It was the longest walk of Robert’s life. 

When they made it to the closed up pub, Robert fumbled for the spare key Diane had given him. Andy staggered inside, heading straight for the liquor bottles.

Robert knew he had to go to him, talk him through the night, warn Diane, but in the last minutes left, he turned back to Aaron, who somehow looked breathtaking in the moonlight, even after everything. 

They moved into a corner, hidden from the rest of the world through shadows, but he felt naked, exposed, ashamed, and most of all, shellshocked. 

He cupped Aaron’s chin, only for Aaron to smack it away.

"Aaron…"

He tried again. Aaron let the hand stay this time, leaned into the touch of stubble against Robert’s soft skin, but the resignation on his face set in harder than ever.

"I guess I made it all about me… _again_ …” he laughed.

The bitterness in that laugh made Robert feel sick.

"I-I didn’t mean to say…"

Aaron chuckled.

"Course you meant it. That’s why you said it. You’re only sayin’ you didn’t ‘cos I almost went splat. Don’t deny it."

Robert wanted to lie, tell Aaron what he thought Aaron wanted to hear, convince him, massage him just the right way, but he was tired. He didn’t have a fight in him. All he saw was a broken, beautiful man he’d never wanted to be with more, and yet, would likely never be alone with again.

He leaned in for a kiss, hesitating when Aaron pulled back, letting his fingers fall away from Aaron’s chin.

"You don’t haveta seduce me into silence, Robert. I won’t tell."

He paused, choking on his sobs.

"I  _can’t_.”

Robert pulled him close.

"That’s not why I’m doing this."

The kiss was short, quickly cut off on both sides, but he’d never meant for a kiss to say as many words as this one did.

_…I’m sorry…it’s not your fault…I never wanted this to happen…goodbye…I love you…_

"Take care o’him," Aaron whispered before he made his way inside the pub, girding himself for the full interrogation from Chas.

Before Robert took the same walk, he whispered to the space where Aaron had been. 

"Take care of yourself. Please."


End file.
